61 Percent of Canadians Oppose Extending Afghan Mission Beyond 2009: Poll
03 January 2008
'', Angus Reid Global Monitor, 1 January 2008
EXCERPT: "Fourteen months prior to the purported end of Canada's military deployment in Afghanistan, Canadians remain concerned about the mission's present and future, an Angus Reid Strategies poll has found. In the online survey of a representative national sample, 47 per cent of respondents regard the assignment of Canadian troops in Afghanistan as...
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Schools Built by Military Twice as Likely to be Attacked: Oxfam
03 January 2008
'Afghanistan: Some schools more vulnerable to attack than others?', IRIN, 2 January 2008
"Schools built and/or reconstructed by international forces are more vulnerable to attack by Taliban insurgents and other radical elements than those built by civilians, according to experts. 'Oxfam is aware of research which suggests that in some areas schools built by international military forces are twice as likely to be targeted...
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UK Plan to Arm Tribal Militias Could Fuel Violence, ISAF Commander Says
03 January 2008
Jon Boone, '', Financial Times, 2 January 2008
"British plans to equip tribes to defend their villages against the Taliban will not work in the region of Afghanistan in which UK forces are responsible, the top US general commanding Nato forces in the country warned on Wednesday.
"With overstretched international and Afghan security forces struggling to contain the country's insurgency, some...
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Iran Warns Unregistered Afghan Refugees of Detention Camps
03 January 2008
'Iran Warns Unregistered Afghan Refugees of Detention Camps', Voice of America, 2 January 2008
EXCERPT: "An official at Iran's Interior Ministry says the estimated 1.5 million Afghan refugees illegally living in the country could face arrest and detention for up to five years. He says Iranian officials now have legal authority to begin moving unregistered refugees into detention camps with prison-like conditions. Iran began expelling...
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New Strategic Consensus Required on Afghanistan Mission
03 January 2008
Ali A. Jalali, 'Afghanistan: Regaining Momentum', Parameters, Winter 2007-08, pp. 5-19
ABSTRACT: "On the sixth anniversary of the US-led military invasion, Afghanistan is faced with its worst crisis since the ouster of the Taliban in 2001. There are increasing concerns, both internationally and domestically, that Afghanistan faces the distinct possibility of sliding back into instability and chaos. The country is challenged by a revitalized...
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Canadian Fatality Rate in Afghanistan Higher than U.S. Forces in Iraq
03 January 2008
Tom Blackwell, 'Canadians at more risk than British, U.S. troops', National Post, 3 January 2008
"The death rate among Canadian soldiers fighting around Kandahar has outstripped not only that of U.S. and British troops in Afghanistan, but Americans in the bloody Iraq war as well, the forces' own figures indicate.
"A Defence Department analysis of casualty rates in the first year of operations in and around Kandahar -- obtained...
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